Local Authors
What made the summertime special when growing up in Cleveland? The final school bell has rung, so put on your shades, slather on the sunscreen, and relive some of your fondest memories ...
Taking a dip at the city pool with your best friends. Building a sandcastle in your clam diggers at Edgewater Park. Pulling up to Manners Big Boy in your parents' car for a burger and a Big Ghoulardi. Cooling off with a ornate sundae at Boukair's near the Palace Theatre. Watching the Indians lose (again) but being dazzled by the fireworks at Municipal Stadium. Riding the Rocket Ship and then being terrified by Laughing Sal at Euclid Beach Park. Packing a picnic for the first season at Blossom.
Enjoy stories told by dozens of Northeast Ohioians who shared in the same fun and excitement of growing up in the Cleveland area.
Look inside and rediscover some of your own Cleveland summertime memories!
"Cleveland's Colorful Characters" is an easy to read, insightful book on some of Cleveland's most influential individuals. These individuals helped create the grand and unique city which at one time was one of the most respected cities in the word. The first chapter is on the Mather family and how they helped create many of Cleveland's world class institutions. On a lighter side they were the first documented individuals to throw a 'toga party'.
The 2nd chapter provides insights into the Van Sweringens who built many of Cleveland's finest homes and buildings as well as being the largest railroad owners in the country. Through the author's research he was able to determine they were the bases for the book, The Great Gatsby.
The 3rd chapter concerns Jim Backus who was the creator of Mr. Magoo as well as the millionaire on Gilligan's Island. He attended University school and great up in Bratenahl. Local lore states Mr. Magoo was based on a University School teacher.
The other chapters inform readers on Charles Schweinfurth, aka "Cleveland's Castle Creator", a brief insight into Camp Cleveland a 20,000 person Civil War camp in University Heights, unusual ghost stories and the last three chapters are dedicated to Cleveland's automotive history. This is when Cleveland was the car capital of the country, if not the world.
Much of the intriguing information in this fact-packed book is new information which the author derived from his in-depth research and conversations with family descendants of those depicted in the book.
Rock and roll has been as much a part of the north coast city of Cleveland as the lake that hugs it.
Ever since Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed first called the records he was playing rock and roll, northeast Ohio has been a driving force in this musical phenomenon. From the disc jockeys who spun the music to the musicians who played it, the clubs that welcomed it and fans who encouraged it, rock and roll has been as much a part of this north coast as the lake that hugs it. It was those early years, from the 1950s on, that led Cleveland to becoming the Rock and Roll Capital of the World and ultimately home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. While the city spawned several widely recognized names, such as the James Gang (with Joe Walsh), the Raspberries (with Eric Carmen), and Bobby Womack, it is the music itself that will keep this town rocking on the shores of Lake Erie, and beyond, for a long time to come.
Doug is the founder and president of North Coast Peace Officer Training Foundation (NCPOTF.org), a not-for-profit law enforcement training company, providing training at no cost to the officer or their agency.
A story about the ties that bind us, Close-Up explores what makes, drives, complicates, and undermines our most important relationships.
In this artful, expansive novel, we follow five protagonists--Jacob, Martin, Caroline, Jeanie, and Jill--through love, marriage, parenthood, and the romance of friendship as they struggle to make sense of themselves and each other and of what makes for good art, good magic, and a good life. What follows is a story only Michelle Herman could write: one of missed connections and old grievances, of loneliness and longing, of rifts and reconciliations and redemption. Close-Up depicts the fraught entanglements of the relationships we're born into and those we choose--carefully or with abandon--with the precision and nuance that has characterized her work over the last thirty years.
As a middle aged, single, black woman, Karen Todd is content with living life simply. She goes to work, keeps in touch with her family, and loves her God. But one day, on her day off, she wakes up and finds that she is having trouble moving her left hand. Thinking she needs to sleep it off, she takes a nap. When she wakes back up, she fixes a bowl of oatmeal and the bowl slips right out of her hand.
Not knowing what else to do, she calls the nursing hotline and they advise her that she needs to go to the emergency room right away; she could be having a stroke. Karen immediately gets in her car and drives to the hospital. While there, she loses feeling on her left side and is admitted for further testing. Results determine that she suffered from an "old stroke." With the cause determined, she is released to a nursing home to be rehabilitated through occupational and physical therapy.
She is only there for three days before she loses consciousness and dies. Neither of her two daughters are notified until the next morning.
What happened to Karen Todd? Although the cause remains unknown, in this brief retelling of a small piece of Karen's life through the eyes of her oldest daughter, Cori, you will travel alongside her as Karen lives her final days.
A Note From Cori
If you've lost a loved one while they were in the care of a hospital or nursing home, this story may trigger painful memories or thoughts. If you find that you are unable to continue reading The Clouds Will Catch Me at any point, please put the book down. Believe me, there were many times while writing this that I had to put the book down. Therapy has helped but there are still days when I figuratively put down my book, and that's okay.
